


5 - The Nightmare Before Dawn

by CatThulu, Shaxxophone



Series: Destcember 2020 Prompts [6]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Character Death In Dream, Destcember, Destcember 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:52:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27910306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatThulu/pseuds/CatThulu, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shaxxophone/pseuds/Shaxxophone
Summary: As Shin Malphur continues to create the Shadows of Yor, his subconscious starts to wrestle with who he once was and who he is becoming now. Some battles can only be fought in dreams.
Series: Destcember 2020 Prompts [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037004
Kudos: 7





	5 - The Nightmare Before Dawn

Shin Malphur finds himself on a familiar grassy null—Dredgen Yor stands in front of him. 

They stay silent, the blazing sun beating down harshly upon them.

This man took everything from him. He, of course, doesn’t even seem remorseful. Shin never even once thought he was capable of remorse. 

“Been a while, kid.” 

Shin meets him with silence.

“I see you still have his sword.. my offering to you.” 

He would earn nothing from him. 

“Nothing to say?” Yor takes a pause, then continued, “but still you are here. This is truly an end—“

He’s cut off by the golden plated gun in Shin’s hand roaring to life with cleansing fire. Not only did the gun itself catch flame, no. His entire arm soon was consumed by it as he raises his hand and makes two shots. 

Except nothing happens. 

The man who is Other looks down at his chest before returning his attention back to his assailant. He seems _amused_. “Firing blanks, kid?” 

This is wrong. This isn’t how it’s supposed to go— Shin recoils slightly in horror, letting all of the dread he tried to push down for years start to creep back in. There was familiarity somehow in the situation up until now, but this, this isn’t right. The words ‘off script’ pop into his mind. Still, dutiful to what he needs to do, he swallows as much of the horror as he can, and fires Last Word three more times. 

Still nothing happens.

Yor reaches for his cursed Thorn, taking his time. “Now, now. That was awfully rude of you. I was talking.” Considering everything, Shin gives him the time to continue. “It seems like your master didn’t teach you any manners.” He removes his weapon from its holster, then slowly and methodically aims it at Shin. “Now It seems like I’ll have to teach you where he failed.”

Once more Shin squeezes his finger around the trigger. Once more Dedgen Yor is met with no harm. 

Then the worst happens. The cursed gun lets out a familiar harsh bark. He hears the sound of an impact right behind him, instantly followed by a violent explosion of light pulsing through the whole area. 

Shin can’t breathe. He jerks his head to look at the Ghost— Jaren’s Ghost. Horror is no longer enough to describe this. He feels something greater than horror. His brain stops working. 

Yor’s brain works though, and he watches on uncaringly as Jaren Ward’s ghost drops to the ground, a long jagged bullet embedded in his shell. He shakes his head. “He was supposed to train you to master his _sword_ , but it looks like he failed and I was wrong. You are not.. More, like he and I believed you would be..” 

“ _No no no no NO…_ ” he whispers to himself, watching the last of the light disappear. Then he looks back to Yor, hatred alighting with a whole new level of fury. Rather than remain frozen, Shin charges him. He tackles him to the ground, aiming to grip his wrist and knock Thorn out of his vile hands. 

Except instead of grabbing his wrist, he rips the gun directly from his hand. Upon contact with the corrupted thing, he’s met with a sickness, one that causes him to hear whispers slinking into his mind. Whispering that tell him sweet nothings, urging him to succumb to the sickness. 

A bright green sickness seeps from the gun to his hand. _Into_ his hand. Up and underneath his armor. 

He sits up frantically, and tries to drop the gun with all his will, but he can’t unclench his hand no matter what he does. 

And now it’s Yor who grabs his wrist tightly. Then pulls him closer. Close enough that his ear is to the man’s mouth, and with the softest whisper he tells him, “ _You are my apprentice now. I’ll teach you my ways and you’ll be my legacy, Dredgen Vale._ ” 

Shin could feel the corruption that had sunk inside of him slowly being pumped to his heart with every beat. Every. Beat. And with each beat now, spreading further— he had to stop this, he couldn’t become like him— he had to— 

———————————

Shin Malphur’s eyes snap open. He’s in the bedroom that his friend Teben Grey had graciously prepared for him the night before. The first thing he sees is his Ghost floating above him spinning his shell in a couple directions out of concern, “Are you okay?”

Wordlessly, he reaches out for him, pulling him in close. “I’m sorry…” 

His Ghost nuzzles up against him, trying to imbue as much comfort in his actions and words as he can, “Sorry? for what?”

“Nothing. just a dream, I guess.” He hoped it was just a dream. Malphur knew he was no damn prophet, but… the hive often worked in dreams, and Grey’s work had been taking them to some Dark places lately… or it could have easily just been guilt.

“Well, I’m here if you want to talk about it. We can also just lay here if you want.” 

“I think just laying here would be nice… It’s about dawn. May as well watch the sun rise.”


End file.
